Claire Macy
Claire Macy, aged 89, died on Sunday. December 15, 2024, in New York City, after a long struggle with heart failure. A 54-year resident of Groton, Claire (née Canapary) was born and raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and graduated from St. Ephraim’s School. As a young woman, she moved to Boston to train as an R.N. at Mass General. She worked as an OR nurse for Dr. Grant Rodkey before going back to school to get her B.S. at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1965. She married retired USAF Major Peter Macy in 1966, and they were married for 58 years.
The Macys moved to Groton when Peter, who was refereeing prep-school basketball, decided he liked the look of the place. They raised two daughters, Jem and Caitlin, in the town. In 1986, in the early wave of the profession, Claire earned her certification as a Nurse Practitioner; she later obtained a Master’s Degree in Health and Human Services. She worked for 10 years for the city of Nashua, NH, where she conducted well-child visits and school physicals for families without health insurance, and then in the school system of Lawrence, retiring in 2000.
When her children were little, she taught nursery school at the Congregational Church and was active in the founding of the Groton Center for the Arts. She advocated for the passing of the Massachusetts law requiring carseats for infants and was politically active her whole life, supporting Democratic candidates. One of her proudest achievements was founding Groton Neighbors with fellow Grotonian Bob Lotz.
Claire was known in Groton and beyond for her warmth, vibrancy, compassion, and kindness to all people. She supported innumerable charities for children and underprivileged communities. She loved visiting her daughters in Manhattan and Italy, dancing with Peter, dining at Gibbet Hill Grill, and going to Bone Builders at the Groton Senior Center. She adored and kept in close touch with her granddaughters: Charlotte, Violet, Amelia and Giorgia. She never got her fill of the arts, whether opera, museums, novels, or old movies, whose stars she knew as if they were family. She was the kind of person who cuts out a poem and tapes it to the refrigerator.
She spent her last months living with her daughter in New York and, to the extent that her health permitted, enjoyed being back in the city where she was born. In keeping with her 35-year career in health care, Claire asked that her body be donated to Harvard Medical School. A memorial service will be planned for 2025. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to www.childrenincorporated.org.